On Monday, March 10, US President Donald Trump signalled that the arrest of a Palestinian activist at Columbia University marks the beginning of a broader crackdown on on-campus protests tied to Israel and the Gaza conflict, reported AP.

Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful US resident and former Columbia graduate student, was apprehended by federal immigration agents in New York on Saturday, March 8, and transferred to an immigration detention centre in Louisiana.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told AP that the arrest aligns with Trump’s executive orders aimed at combating antisemitism.

Khalil's background
Born in Syria to Palestinian parents, Khalil was a prominent pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia, often acting as a liaison between student demonstrators and university administrators. He has rejected claims of antisemitism, emphasising that his activism, part of a wider anti-war effort, involved Jewish students and groups.

Columbia’s Office of Institutional Equity had been probing Khalil for allegedly breaching updated harassment policies after he posted on WhatsApp about a “genocidal dean,” AP noted.

What was Trump's justification?
In a social media post, Trump justified Khalil’s detention, writing, “We know there are more students at Columbia and other universities nationwide engaging in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American behavior, and the Trump Administration won’t stand for it. We will track down, arrest, and deport these terrorist supporters from our country — permanently.”

Target on Columbia
AP also reported that federal immigration officials tried to detain another international student at Columbia, but were turned away after failing to present an arrest warrant, per the Student Workers of Columbia.

The Trump administration recently slashed $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University, accusing it of not doing enough to address antisemitism on campus.